Gemini's Gamble
by WhiteFyre
Summary: Despite her skills in a casino, Trance's family finally catches up to her, and leaves her in a situation where she has no choice but to put the crew of Andromeda up as the stakes. Harper POV. Gold AND Purple Trance. Just read it to understand.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Andromeda is, unfortunately, not mine, and belongs to people much richer than I. However, tho i can't claim ownership of the characters, the story IS mine

A/N: this takes place in season 4, more or less right after TWTAAH. It's about Trance, but from Harper's POV, and I'm very sorry, but there's spoilers for nearly every episode where either of the two had any significant parts. Please, please, R&R, I'd really appreciate it! I'd like to know your thoughts on the story (and the title, cuz I'm not sure where i stand on that) This is my first Andromeda fanfic, I hope you enjoy! (Also, for those of you who remember IHNAT, I changed Flux's character a little bit, I hope it's all right). OK. Enough babble. On with the story!

Gemini's Gamble

Mission Log for: Seamus Zelazny Harper

Rank: The Absolute Genius and Incredibly Handsome Technician on Andromeda Ascendant

Date: 9.17.10088

Dylan, you better appreciate the fact that I can write this mission log in the state that I'm in. After that unpleasant ordeal we went through, the gorgeous temple that is Harper needs as much recovery time as possible. So let's just make it clear that I was _not_ happy with your order for everyone's mission log as soon as they were conscious enough to write it. But being the great guy I am, I won't hold any grudges and just hop straight into the story.

But first, one more quick thing you should know; since this has so much to do with Trance, a lot of the things I put in here about her were _only _with her express permission, and 'cause of that, there's a few things she told me to leave out. Sorry to say it, but though you're my captain, I don't betray friends. Especially the cute ones. And not because they're cute, either. Well, all right, partly because they're cute. But mostly because the cuter they are the more dangerous they are. Case in point: Trance Gemini.

I think the whole thing started with a conversation I had with Trance in a little side- deck last... Thursday was it? Two days after _more_ bounty hunters came after us for (as usual, now) that star map thingie we used to travel to a new dimension, and we kicked their sorry little Kalderan behinds straight into the next galaxy. Rommie had taken a beating, and a nice guy like me just couldn't stand to see a lovely lady in pain.

The fact that the lovely lady was a temperamental warship had nothing to do with it.

So there I was, readjusting her grav-density capacitator, and I couldn't find my nanowelder. I find many things (mostly female) very attractive, but there are only three things in this universe that I find truly beautiful. The Andromeda AI (the ship made hot, by yours truly), freedom from Nietzschean slavers, and my handy dandy nanowelder. Seriously, an engineer isn't an engineer without one.

Naturally, I was very put out when I had no clue where it went off too. I'm nowhere near the neat freak that Tyr was when he was still on this ship, but I can keep track of my tools fairly well.

I said one or two words I learned growing up on the streets of Boston that I probably shouldn't put in this mission log.

"Was this what you were looking for?" Trance asked from _right beside me_ nearly giving everyone's favorite technician a heart attack.

Her bronze-tinged face gave in to a small smirk that still seemed almost-but-not-quite familiar. Back when she was still purple, Trance was my closest friend. She'd help me find my lost tools, consoled me when a hot babe failed to realize the glory that was Harper, and even sung Vedran drinking songs with me when we went out gambling. (Now, Dylan, it's not what you think. I just couldn't give up the great chance she gave me in all those casinos. You would _not_ believe the luck this girl had. Ok, maybe it is what you think.)

But I digress. What I was getting around to saying was, when Trance was purple, she was cool, fun, a great friend. But then she traded places with an older version of herself when the little time machine I was making with Hohne went a bit awry, and now the bronzy version of Trance was a _lot_ different. She was more... mature. She was still fun every now and then, but…You wouldn't be hearing any drinking songs out of this Trance anytime soon. And she _knew_ stuff, too. A lot more stuff than the vague notions she used to get when she was purple. It's still hard throwing someone completely different into the position of new best friend. And I'll admit, I was angry at her. Sure, she saved my life over Hohne's when she first came from the future, but I still wasn't sure if that was the best idea. Mostly I felt like she stole my best friend and replaced her with someone not nearly as fun. There are times where I wondered if I had over-stressed a point. I mean, it _was_ two years ago. It's just… hard to get used to.

"Oh, uh, hey, Trance. Thanks," I said gruffly.

Trance tilted her head and frowned. Not the cute, bewildered frown the old Trance would have had, but that old, wise, _knowing_ frown that gave me the full-blown case of the heeby-jeebies.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Harper? Is something wrong? Something you'd like to share?"

Of all the things that could have stayed the same when Trance changed, it just had to be the fact that she could read me like a flexi.

"Not a thing," I said, annoyed that my extended vocabulary wasn't helping very much here. "Everything is right in the world of Harper. Besides, you're my little Golden Goddess! There's nothing to tell you for you to go worry your pretty little head about."

The corner of her lip quirked a tiny little bit and for a second -- just an impossibly small second -- she almost seemed as if... But then the quirk was gone, the walls were back up, and she was back to being Trance the Warrior Woman (or whatever she is), emotionless defender of he galaxy.

"Would it have been something you would have told your Purple Princess, though?" she asked, so quietly I almost missed it.

Whatever words I would've said died in my mouth. Instead I was brilliant enough to blurt out, "It's not like that, Trance! I've really got nothing against you, I swear! It's…well… it's still hard to get used to the idea of the grown up you, all serious, and prophet-like, and... and not purple."

Trance looked down. I think she knew quite a lot of the reason I had trouble relating to her now had to do with her new look. Don't get me wrong, I'm not the kind of guy who discriminates against different-looking peoples, but one little fold in time/space and suddenly having a good friend look _that_ different takes a bit of getting used to. And it wasn't just that she _looked_ different, how she looked made her _act_ different, too. You just can't be sweet and naïve while wearing battle armor. Just ask Tyr.

I took a peek at her out of the corner at my eye and saw her studying me. The heeby-jeebies I had before kindly stood down while new ones took over and showed 'em how heeby-jeebying was _done_. I guess she came to some kind of decision, 'cause the edge kind of came off her walls, and she kind of stared off at some wiring.

"My people," she said, "have different stages in life. When we're young, we're purple, and we can do…things. We can see possibilities, and do… other stuff. There is potential for more, but it's rarely needed. What we can do when we're young is usually enough. But if we need to, we can change. We grow up, and become able to… do more. It's… not fun. It, well, hurts. We only grow up when we need to. And I needed to. Things were…bad. Very bad. Everything was going wrong, and I couldn't do anything because I was too young, so I decided to grow up." She tightly closed her eyes. "You can't grow up without…changing. I mean, of course you change, but the process makes you… _change,_ change."

I put down my nanowelder. Something told me that this was the most Trance had ever told me-- or anyone else, I'm guessing-- about her or her people. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that. I mean, I was honored, and kind of touched that she was willing to tell me this, but that nasty worm of guilt started gnawing at my recently-freed-of-parasites intestines, making sure I wouldn't forget that while Trance was going out of her way to let me know some of her most guarded secrets, I was still partly shutting her out.

"I think I might have stayed as optimistic and as... happy as I was before," she continued. "But in the future where I came from, I made a lot of mistakes. Things went…very wrong. I want to make sure they don't happen again." I nearly couldn't handle the look on her face. It was so…sad.

I didn't really want to push it. Contrary to popular belief, I do have _some_ tact. But I really wanted to know. Not really knowing what to do, I picked up my nanowelder and started working on wires again.

"What went wrong?" I asked, trying to sound encouraging. It looked like Trance had a lot of baggage to deal with and I was the first person she had a chance to talk to.

She looked right into my eyes, and I got this weird creepy sensation of someone studying even single deep dark recess of my soul. But at the same time, I felt like I could trust those eyes too. Like I said, weird.

"I won't tell you all of it," she said. "You just don't need to know right now. But there were many fights, many battles we lost. Almost the whole crew died, Harper. You did, and Tyr, and Hohne, and…" she drifted off, then found her voice and started talking again

"Everything started going... wrong. I kept trying to make the right decisions, but they never worked. I kept making mistakes. And the Abyss started winning."

All right, at this point, I wasn't just getting those tell-scary-stories-in-the-dark goosebump shivers up and down my spine. I was seriously _freaked out_. Trance mentioned when she first came, it was only her and half-human, half-mechanical Beka that was left, but jeez, let me tell ya, things like that don't hit home 'till someone tells you exactly _how_ ugly things really got.

I let the silence stretched out forever. I had seen more than enough death to know that when you believe right down to your core that it's your fault, petty condolences don't even come close to making it better. And Trance blamed herself. It was written all over her face. I knew her well enough that, no matter what form she was in, there was no way she would sacrifice anything less than one hundred percent before admitting defeat. I tried to convince her that, that she did the very best she could and it wasn't her fault things didn't work out so great.

"You don't understand," she said, as I worked on a particularly nasty patch of screwed up wiring. "Right before you folded time, Beka was going to give up. She was...tired. She didn't want to fight Dylan's fight anymore. She said..." Trance paused, and almost let her voice die. "She said she didn't want to live with any more dreams of how Dylan had died."

Shocked, I let the nanowelder slip, slicing a thin red line across my finger and snapping three or four semi-vital wires. But I couldn't help it. The idea of Dylan dying was as foreign as the idea of lil' ol' wonderful me dying. Hunt was the heart of this whole new Commonwealth. If he died, well, we were as good as lost.

The very depressing mood was getting to both of us. Trance worked up a half-smile and said earnestly, "But this time I promise it'll be different. I'm not too young to fix things, and I can do things now that can...help."

"Oh yeah," I said, sucking on my sliced-- and now stinging-- finger. "And will we, the apparently unenlightened, yet heart-breakingly handsome pawns in your cosmic plans ever see any part of this phenomenal plethora of paranormal talents?"

Trance quirked her lips ever-so-slightly in an almost-grin and reached up and took my bleeding finger in her hand and held her other slightly above it. Suddenly, I swear it was out of nowhere, little golden sparkle things started floating around my hand and just like that the cut was gone. It didn't _heal_, or at least I didn't feel it heal, it was just as if it never existed.

"I suppose," she said, her grin now a mysterious smile.

Enter mystical chiming music here.

Wide-eyed I opened my mouth and demanded, "Trance, how the _he_--!"

"_Where_ has that spike-haired dwarf crawled to?" growled a voice that I can only describe as "angry Nietzschean". Sticking my head out of the side-deck me and Trance were sitting in, I gave a perky wave to the source of the growl.

Said Nietzschean was standing there wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. His bladed arms were crossed across a soaking wet chest and under a mop of hair covered in soap bubbles were a pair of _very_ unhappy eyes.

"Hiya, Rhade," I greeted him. "What's up? Something eating ya? You look like a wet hen."

Well, _I_ thought it was funny.

"Harper," he growled. (What _is_ it with Nietzscheans and growling? Tyr did it too. I think it's a prerequisite at the school of Oscar the Nietzschean Grouch)

"Would you mind telling me _why_, in your repairs of the ship, did you decide it would be a good idea to cut off the water supply to the Officer's Quarters?"

Hmm, so _that's_ what those three or four wires I snapped before were for.

"Hey, hey," I said, flashing my Harper patented smile # 34 (I'm-too-cute-please-don't-kill-me) "It was only a minor inconvenience. I'll have it fixed in no time."

"You'd better," he-- you guessed it; growled again--, shifting his arms so that his arm blades glinted. "If you don't, I just might--"

"ALL PERSONEL REPORT TO COMMAND DECK IMMEDIATELY. " The ever-so-charming and life-saving voice of Andromeda's AI sounded over the intercoms. Rhade glared at me, promising a slow, very painful death, and stomped off towards his quarters to put something more decent on.

"Hey, Trance," I asked the bronze babe beside me. "With all your new-found powers, do you have anything to cure grouchy Nietzscheans from acting like they have a plutonium rod stuck up their ----"

"Come _on_ Harper!" She demanded, grabbing my arm and dragging me to Command.


	2. Chapter 2

"What are the stats?" Dylan demanded as he stormed into Command. He looked every inch the High Guard Captain, all decked out in his uniform and the classic so-intense-I'll-have-wrinkles-by-the-time-I'm-thirty-five look on his face.

"We were about to head into Slipstream when three unknown ships came out of the portal and encircled it, making us unable to enter," Rommie, the avatar for the Andromeda Ascendant, reported. When I said that the AI was the ship made hot, I wasn't kidding. She was walking perfection. Whoever made her avatar body was a genius. Oh, right, I was the one who made her.

All right, all right, so I have a few problems with pride. But if you made something as great as Rommie, wouldn't you be cocky too?

"Their ships look odd," Beka commented from her position in the pilot's seat. "Kinda like giant round stars."

At this, Trance's head jerked up from the control panel she was stationed at. As she stared out the screen to the ships ahead of us, I saw her eyes widen in-- shock? _Whoa!_ When Trance, who actively predicts the future, is shocked about something happening, you know you have problems.

I think I was the only one who noticed though. Dylan had ordered Rommie to open a com-link to the stranger ships and the rest of the crew watched as he spoke.

"This is Captain Dylan Hunt, of the Andromeda Ascendant," he said. "We mean you no harm, we simply want to use the Slipstream portal and you are blocking our way."

At this point, Telemachus Rhade finally made his entrance. He was fully dressed now, but he still looked pretty steamed at me, and it was obvious he only barely dried off, because...

"Hey, Rhade," Beka called over her shoulder. "Nice hair. Are the bubbles a fashion statement?"

The Nietzschean said nothing, just stood and glared at me.

"Fashion discussions can wait," Dylan said tersely. "I want to know why these people aren't answering me."

"They won't answer," Trance said, in a near-whisper, but still loud enough to be heard.

Dylan quickly looked at her. "What do you mean, Trance?"

"They never answer hails..." Trance then shook her head, looking more like her old self. Or at least her old new self. Or whatever.

"Dylan, we have to leave. Immediately. We can't stay here, we can find another Slipstream port, we just need to _go_."

The captain frowned. I think he knew as well as I did, that you don't take Trance's word lightly.

"Incoming message," Rommie noted, distracting Dylan from what he was going to say.

"Dylan Hunt? Creator of the New Commonwealth?" The voice was lispy, but kinda musical at the same time. There was nothing on the screen, though. Some sort of glitch just made it look like a bunch of fractured light.

Dylan looked at his avatar. "I didn't give you the command to show the message," he said.

Rommie frowned. "I couldn't block it. It overrode my systems."

_That_ was a bad thing. When something has the ability to override the blocking systems of a warship, especially those designed by the unattainable genius of yours truly, automatically assume it's trouble.

"Is this Dylan Hunt of the New Commonwealth?" the lispy voice repeated insistently.

Frowning, our captain answered. "Yes, this is Dylan Hunt of the New Commonwealth. Do not be worried, we mean you no harm."

The lispy voice gave a dry, ominous chuckle. _"_We do. _"_

"MOVE!" The command, surprisingly, didn't come from Dylan, but from Trance. Her entire body was rigid, her eyes intent.

Rommie needed no further urging. Closing her eyes to connect with her mainframe AI, she threw the ship into a sharp 180 and we were flying as fast as her thrusters could take us in the other direction.

But it wasn't enough. An explosion slammed into us from behind, making all of us fall to the floor. Sparks flew everywhere as wiring snapped, and I nearly groaned, thinking of all the beautiful repair work I had done going down the drain. Something to do with the explosion seemed to have restrained Andromeda, because she strained against an invisible force for a moment, then snapped back, throwing all of us poor, fragile humans in the opposite direction.

As the ship stilled, we all got to our feet to find Rommie on the floor, her AI unconscious. I ran over to her, my trusty nanowelder ready as Rhade gently sat her up.

Running a few scans, I announced, "Whatever hit us was big. It completely short circuited Rommie, and probably killed a few vital systems too. I won't know until I can get her revived."

Dylan was back in full captain mode. Getting up and limping over to his control panel on what looked like a sprained ankle, he snapped, "Harper, Trance, do whatever you can to wake up Rommie. Beka, see if there's any way you can pilot us out of here manually. Rhade, find out what the hell hit us, the damage it did, and if we can get past it."

Since Rommie was an android and therefore a patient out of Trance's skill, the bronze girl went over to Dylan to tend to his ankle. I did the best I could to wake up Rommie while Rhade went about trying to manually revive her systems, all grudges held against me temporarily forgotten. All the while the ship bucked and kicked while Beka fought to release it from whatever hold was keeping it in place.

Finally, I was able to spark the right circuits in Rommie, and slowly she sat up. It took her over a full minute to assess the surroundings and the situation. I began to get very worried. I designed Rommie with a super computer brain. It's the only one I'll admit is faster than mine. That fact that it took so long to assess the damage was a very bad sign.

Dylan noticed she was awake. "Andromeda, report," he ordered.

Rommie frowned and shook her head. "Whatever hit me was powerful. Damage was done to two thirds of my core systems. Life support on decks nineteen through thirty-four is gone, artificial gravity in all hanger decks is non- responsive, and the slipstream core has received major damage. I am unable to break the net structure that's holding me. It seems to be made of different energy beams crossing at various tangents around me that I wouldn't even be able to break with my plasma defence lasers. Or rather, I wouldn't be able to break them if my plasma defence lasers were working."

There was silence on Command as we all contemplated which swear words in what language would be most appropriate for the situation.

Dylan, as always, was the first to come to his senses.

"Well, we're not finished yet," he said. "Beka, keep fighting this net thing around us. Bull your way through with brute force if need be. Rhade, find every single working weapon on this ship and fire it. Harper, this is resting on you. Fix as much as possible in as soon as possible, but your priorities are the slip stream drive and whatever will most effectively fight off what's holding us here. Can you do that?"

I was vaguely insulted by that statement, but I allowed Dylan some grace considering all the stress he was under. Instead, I flashed my Harper patented smile # 16 (I'm-a-genius-I-can-fix-anything) and snapped a salute.

"Is there any doubt in the undeniably awe-inspiring intellect of Seamus Harper?" I ask.

"Yes," Rhade growled from his control station, shaking out more shampoo bubbles still left in his hair.

I decided not to make an issue of it, and was off and running from the command deck to fix the re-broken ship.

"Hey, Rommie, you say this energy net thing crosses at tangents?"

"Yes," the ship's core intelligence answered me through the intercom system.

"What exactly is the tangent?" I asked. I was in another side deck close to the slipstream core trying to re-route enough energy to give a jump start the slipstream drive when I was struck with one of my brighter ideas yet.

"Tangents are conjoined at parallels that meet at sixty-two degree angles at three light-second intervals," was the immediate answer.

I gnawed on my lower lip in thought. "It could work…" I mumbled.

"Why do you want to know?" Andromeda asked uncertainly.

I grinned. "It'll be a surprise. But trust me, Rom-doll, you are gonna _love_ me!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Harper, are you sure this is going to work?" Dylan asked suspiciously.

"Hey, now," I said, "Is Rommie hot? Are black holes big? Is there a babe alive that can resist the charms of Harper?"

"We're doomed," Beka groaned, face buried in her hands.

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, Boss. I'll keep that comment in mind next time you want me to fix up the Maru. But seriously, why doubt me? All we need to do is hook up our back-up energy storage system to the gravity field of this net thing holding us, pinpointing the teseracting tangents, where the energy is the highest. Then we siphon off some energy from them, so we recharge our weapons, jump-start out slipstream drive and blast through the net all in one big beautiful stroke of genius!"

"Oh, that's all?" Rhade asked sarcastically. I didn't mind, though, because if Rhade was showing vague Nietzschean humor, he wasn't feeling cranky enough to kill me.

So as the skeptics watched, I hooked up the system, and flipped the switch.

"Kids, don't try this at home," I advised.

The control panel I was at began to light up with random sparks, which soon covered the entire Command deck. I scanned the stats of the systems recharge, but kept a close eye on how Rommie was holding up. I didn't want any stray proton charges knocking her out again. I built her tough, but two short circuits in less than an hour isn't healthy for anyone.

Soon the entire ship was lit up like a Vedran Asteroid Party, and just as a vague feeling of "Hmm, this _might_ be a close call" began to cross my mind, everything stopped. The lights went out, panels shut down and for a gut-wrenching moment, everything was silent.

Then the lights came back on again and Rommie reported, "Recharging complete. All major systems fully functioning. Weapons at full energy capacity. Slip stream drive online and ready."

In response to the sighs of relief around the deck, I flashed my Harper patented smile # 27 (Worship-me.-You-know-you-want-to) and said, "See? Simple!"

Beka, in the pilot's seat, grimaced. "Yeah, great," she said. "It's all fine and dandy that I can fly in slipstream now, but that's no help if I can't _get_ to slipstream! The net's still holding us in place."

"What?" I exclaimed. "That's not possible! I drained all Carbon and Sodium energy _out_ of the stupid thing! What's it running on?"

"It appears to be under the support of a Hydrogen-based energy source," Rommie commented.

That threw me. "Hydrogen? As an energy source? That's crazy! It's too erratic! I've seen more rational things from Hisk'aine during mating season! It's like trying to harness the energy of a star for a simple net!"

"A star?" Dylan asked, throwing a suspicious look at Trance. I had no idea why, but if she knew how this worked, and never told, she deserved a suspicious look.

She gave a helpless frown. "They hadn't encountered anything like an energy siphon when I was last with them. I thought Harper's plan could work."

"They?" Dylan asked, and looked like he was going to say more, but was interrupted.

_"_An impressive attempt, Dylan Hunt, " the lispy voice said over our systems. "Completely futile, but highly amusing."

"What do you want?" Dylan snapped, looking very peeved.

"You have something of mine, which I lost a very long time ago. I want what is mine back, and you will give it to me, Dylan Hunt."

"Well, that depends on exactly what you want," Dylan replied, making a valiant attempt to sound reasonable.

"There is a foreign object approaching our ship," Rommie reported. "It is a large cloud consisting of millions of small, Hydrogen-based molecules."

With a slightly panicked look on her face, Trance spoke up.

"Seal the ship," she said. "Every single opening or port, we can't let that cloud in here!"

"Trance," I said softly, kinda worried about her terrified tone of voice, "This ship _is_ airtight. It has to be so it can fly in space."

Dylan, probably sensing the same worry out of her as I did, asked, "This cloud, is it dangerous?"

Trance pursed her lips. "Not to you," she whispered.

So, it was pretty much decided this cloud was a bad thing. I don't think any of us were sure if when Trance said, "Not to you," if she was talking to only Dylan, or if she meant the rest of the crew. Either way, Trance, a girl who has probably traveled around the galaxy and seen the worst of the universe, was not a fun thing to see in a panic. Anything that would calm her down right now would be very welcome.

"The cloud has breached my hull and is traveling to the Command Deck," Rommie announced.

Thanks, Rom. Just what we needed to hear.

At this news, Trance seemed to steel herself against what was going to happen next. She straightened her shoulders and looked us all in the eyes.

"Things will change now," she said, quietly. "I'm not sure yet if the change is good or bad. Maybe you'll even like it. But after it happens, I won't be able to help you as much anymore, so I'm sorry. I'll never forget any of you. I don't know if I'll be there in the same way I used to be, but I promise to still help you in any way that I still can."

Now I'll admit, Seamus Harper can be an asinine, rude, SOB at the best of times. But Trance's little speech was doing some serious tugging at my heart. It sounded an awful lot like she was saying goodbye, and that wasn't very fair. No matter what form she was in, Trance was still a friend. Hey, I was even getting fond of this version of her, and the thought of losing Trance _again_ was making my gut twist up into funny little shapes that reminded me of when I had those cute little Magog eggs eating me alive.

Wow. I'm growing soft.

"Trance, I don't know what's scaring you, but we're _not_ going to let you get kidnapped by a cloud," Beka said. "I don't plan on –"

"Beka," Trance interrupted softly.

Just then, a huge golden cloud-thing entered Command Deck. It shimmered as it moved and I almost would have commented on how beautiful it was, if it weren't for the look on Trance's face. Dylan threw and accusing look at Rommie.

"I tried to stop it!" she said defensively. "Airtight seals apparently don't work as effectively as they're supposed to. The cloud passed through as if they weren't even there."

"It's supposed to," said Trance, as the cloud headed straight for her.

Now, Trance wouldn't be Trance if she didn't put up a fight before just giving up. And sure enough, when the cloud was almost upon her, she stubbornly raised her chin and said – to the cloud—"I'm not going back. I belong here."

Over the intercom, that lispy voice I had nearly forgotten about laughed a creepy, disjointed laugh. _"_You act as if you have a choice, child."

For a moment, the golden cloud enveloped her – but only for a moment. Suddenly, from beneath the cloud, came sharp, bright rays of light from…_Trance!_ …fighting back against the cloud's hold. But the cloud withered like a living thing, and expanded, until nothing left of Trance could be seen.

Things became slightly fuzzy for me then. It might have been my lack of food for a day and my lack of women for even longer. It might have been the shock of seeing someone you've known and worked with for years suddenly turn into a giant flashlight. Then again, it might have been the fact that there was an explosion from the giant Trance/cloud thing a few feet away. Everything not bolted down – pretty much all the soft, squishy humans: seriously Dylan, we gotta do something about that – was sent flying. I remember hearing a very ugly crack as my head slammed into the floor, and the room spun around at a rate that would have made the speed of light seem a snail's pace. Trying to clear my vision, I saw the cloud dispersing, leaving as if it were never there.

And crumpled on the floor was Trance. She was beaten, unconscious – and as purple as a can of my Sparky Cola.

Vaguely, I could hear that stupid lispy voice, still on the stupid com unit, laughing that stupid disjointed laugh.

"You asked what I wanted, Dylan Hunt? I want Trance Gemini, and I shall have her. It's time my daughter came home."


	4. Chapter 4

I briefly wondered if I was hung over. Then I dismissed the idea: what I felt was nothing like being hung over. More like…being hit by a Nova bomb.

I know I was laying down on something soft, so I figured someone must of moved me while I was unconscious. I tried sitting up, and asked where the hell I was.

"Mmghumaghmm?"

All right, I guess the coherent speech thing was beyond me for the moment. I was beginning to like that Nova bomb theory more and more.

I felt a hand on the back of my head gently raise me up. The double vision cleared slightly, so I was able to see the concerned – and very purple—face looking down on me.

"Here," she soothed. "Have some water."

Now unless I had been out for a _really_ long time, and I had some weird dream where Trance had traded places with herself and was now a bronzy spooky person, something told me there might be a problem with the purple girl tending me.

"Trance?" I managed to slur out. "What? How…?"

"Well," she said carefully, recapping the water bottle with that cute frown I forgot she had had, "When two Hydrogen atoms love each other very much, they bond with an Oxygen and –"

"No, Trance, not that," I mumbled. Carefully, I eased myself up and propped myself up on my elbow, grabbing Trance's wrist with my other hand. "You're purple again?"

She pursed her lips. "Yes. I was forced back into my younger form by the beings who caught us."

Yes, Harper is genius. Brilliant is in my being. But at the moment, this was just a bit much to digest. "What? Who? Why?"

Trance gave a small smile at my incoherent string of questions, as she gently passed cool fingers over my temples. "I can't answer your questions right now, Harper, but I think it might be necessary that I do so soon. It may be the only way we can succeed."

Hmm, so Trance looked like her purple self, but acted like her future self. I was planning on making a suitably witty and yet thought-provoking remark, when I heard Beka's voice behind me.

"So our Sleeping Beauty's up and moving now, is he?"

I grimaced and rolled myself off the raised, padded dias. It looked something like the patient chairs in the med decks, but it was made of a substance I have never seen before, a kind of transparent air cushion. Fairly cool, actually, if you ignored the fact that the thing was in a room with no doors or obvious routes of escape.

"So, ahhhh…" I rubbed my temple as I tried to get out a coherent thought. The decks on the Andromeda were made of some tough stuff. "Is anyone willing on filling in everyone's favourite engineer on exactly what happened after Trance had that showdown with that cloud of spiteful fairy dust?"

"We were boarded by the strangers who attacked us," said Rhade from where he was sitting against the far wall, elbows on his knees. "To those of us who were conscious, the beings…breathed on us, and we were unable to prevent them leading us from Andromeda onto their ship."

"They _breathed_ on you?" Beka asked, raising an eyebrow. I guess she had been unconscious, too.

"It appeared to be a pheromonal substance," Rommie commented. She was walking the perimeter of the room we were in, occasionally tapping a knuckle on the walls. "From what I was able to analyze of it, it contained a muscle relaxant and a mild sedative. The substance didn't work on me, and two of the beings had to drag me off by force."

"Sorry, Rommie, I didn't hear that right," I said, sticking a finger in my ear and wiggling it around. "I could have sworn you said it only took two of them to drag you off, and I _know_ that can't be right because you, Rommie, have taken on over two dozen soldiers armed to the teeth all at once with nothing more than your own beautifully shaped hands, and _won_. So obviously, my hearing was affected when I hit my head, and I'm not going to find out we were captured by a group of super beings that can effectively grind our faces in the dirt without a second thought."

I was met by silence until Dylan looked up and answered for the first time. "They're a bit more difficult to deal with than what we first thought." He gave a crooked grin, finding a bit of his old humor. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't think there's any dirt here that they can grind our faces into."

See, this is what you get when you start thinking positively.

"Are you telling me that we're being held captive by some aliens I didn't even _know_ we had made enemies of, that we have no hope of fighting against, and who may not let us back to the Andromeda alive?" Beka demanded. "Am I the only one that has a problem with that? I say we break out of here, find our weapons, or at least some of theirs that we can use, find our way back to the Andromeda and hightail it out of here. And Dylan, if you say _anything_ about trying to get these guys to join the Commonwealth, I just might punch you."

"I don't like the idea of running, but I agree with Beka," said Rhade. "None of us will be able to accomplish anything if we're dead."

"Escape from this room would be very hard," Rommie said. "From what I can tell, the wall is only three inches thick, but the density levels are about 520 thousand trillion molecules per cubic centimeter."

"And that means….?" Dylan shook his head.

"That the thickness of a four foot thick lead wall has been compressed into three inches." I said. "Making trying to punch our way out of here a not fun experience. In fact, it would end up being very painful, something that I am very adverse to." I looked at Rhade. "Unless you're packing a few Nova bombs you forgot to tell me about, not even Neitzschean brute force can get past that wall. We need a different plan."

"I can get you out," Trance said quietly. "They have what they want, so if you let me talk to them, and we play our cards right, you guys can probably be allowed to go."

I rounded on Trance. I had been hanging around her too long to not catch how she had said that. " 'You guys'? Not 'us'? Were you planning on staying behind?"

Just then I noticed the metal collar that was now on her neck. It was thick, but plain, with only three small lights on the front: blue, green, and white. The white one was the only one glowing; the other two were dim. I slowly reached up to touch it and yanked my hand back at the electric charge that ran up through my arm.

"A restraint collar?" I whispered in shock. Trance looked up, and I noticed that the usual brightness of her eyes were severely dimmed.

"It was me they wanted, after all, " she said, valiantly trying to work up a cheery smile. "I doubt they would let me go now that they finally have me. But there's nothing they would want any of you for, so they might as well let you go."

I ducked my head, not wanting to keep looking in her eyes, and it was only because of that that I noticed her crossing her fingers.

I jerked my head up and was about to say something when a wall disappeared.

No joke. You were there, Dylan, and I don't know how it looked to you, but one second it was there and the next it wasn't. And I know it didn't just go transparent either, because it was the wall Rhade was leaning against and he nearly fell through it before he managed to scramble up.

Looking past it, I only caught a glimpse of a giant room, artfully covered with intricate paintings and wall hangings with dozens of people with skins in every colour imaginable walking around, before a blue-silver man walked through and the wall appeared again.

He was slightly shorter than Trance, and blue, but had the same curled horn hair thing that Trance had when she was bronze. At the sight of him, Dylan stiffened and Beka snarled, automatically reaching for the weapon that wasn't there anymore.

Trance pulled away from me and faced the new guy. She frowned at him at the moment, then forced up a bright smile. I would have almost been stunned by the sudden change, if it weren't for the fact that her eyes now had a wary, dangerous glint to them.

"Hi, Flux! It was so nice of you to drop in to visit! It's been so long! Why I bet Beka and Dylan have missed you so much!" She determinedly ignored Beka's most pointed Death Glare. "But really, we can't stay too long. Dylan here has quite a lot to get around to doing, and he's going to need a bit of help finishing it. So why don't you just let us go? We promise to be very good until then!"

This Flux character gave a cold smile. "Now, Trance, rushing off so soon? Your brothers and sisters have all been _so _excited about your return. Surely you can't leave without letting them find out what's happened to their estranged sibling? And your father! Why I bet you can imagine how… overjoyed he is that you're back under his care."

Trance's smile faded, and I figured it would be a nice time to show my support. Stepping up behind her, I faced the blue man and smiled my Harper Patented Smile # 42 (Of-course-I'm-hot-but-if-you-mess-with-my-friends-you're-so-seriously-screwed) "Hey Mr… What was it? Flux? As in the emissions that result when ships release their waste bins? Well, my name is Harper, Seamus Harper. I'm a friend of Trance, here, and usually I'm a great guy when it comes to adverse situations. Hey, I've even been captured by Magog, filled to the brim with their wormy, parasitic eggs, and even after they've tried to eat me alive, I still don't have too much of a grudge against them. But see, what you're doing to Trance here is not cool. She's one of my closest friends, and if everyone's so happy that she's back, I don't see the need to lock all of us in a room and stick a restraint collar on her. I've seen more love among Nightsider families. And in case you didn't know, _they_ eat their own young. I say you should start showing some respect here, buddy, 'cause every single one of us here is more than willing to help you take a nice long flying leap into a swarming magog pit if you keep treating Trance here like trash. She can probably manage it herself with her unfathomable powers, but she's usually too nice for that."

"Harper….." Trance whispered, placing a restraining hand on my arm.

Flux laughed and I swear, Dylan, I nearly decked him right there. "Oh, good job! You always had a talent of inspiring loyalty, Trance. And don't worry, Mr. Harper." He turned to look me right in the eye. His eyes were creepy. _Much_ creepier than Trance's. "You didn't need to introduce yourself. I know who you are. We _all_ know who you are. You are very… popular among many important people here."

Beka blinked. "What now? Harper famous? Does this involve any bounty hunters?"

Flux brought his hands together on his chest. "Now, now, it wouldn't do to ask too many questions too soon! I just came to tell you that you will be making a appearance in the great chambers of Sigma Orion in …Let's see… half of your human hours."

" 'Our human hours'? " Rhade growled. Trust a Neitzschean to get offended.

"Dearie me, hasn't Trance told you how we see time differently than you? Miss Gemini, you're just keeping secrets from everyone these days, aren't you?" The stupid blue alien feigned exaggerated shock, and I contemplated ripping off his arm and shoving it down his stupid blue throat. I have no idea what it was, but something about him rubbed me the wrong way.

Apparently Beka shared my sentiments. "If that's all you wanted to say, why are you still here?" she demanded.

"Ah! Nearly forgot!" Flux pulled – from, as far as I could tell, nowhere – out a package of what looked like large rectangular cookies, wrapped in the same kind of clear stuff that covered the chair I woke up on. "I brought you food. You really all should eat. The great Sigma Orion doesn't like compensating for any human fragility."

He brought the package over to Dylan, who took it suspiciously.

"How do we know it isn't poisoned or something?" He demanded.

"It's not," said Trance, with a hard look at Flux. "The people here have no need for poisons."

Flux bowed in acknowledgement to her, then walked over to the wall he had come in through. After he nodded to it, it disappeared again, and he prepared to step through.

Quick as thought, Rommie bolted to run through. Now, Dylan, you know how quick I made her. Warships-made-flesh kinda need to be. But I swear, no matter how fast she was going, it didn't seem like she could bolt across the ten feet of space between her old spot and the open wall before Flux slowly, casually stepped through and the wall snapped back into place, an immovable object for Rommie's unstoppable force.


	5. Chapter 5

Rommie only managed to turn just in time, and slammed into the very solid wall shoulder first. She groaned and slid to the floor. Running over to her, I was already rummaging through my pockets for my nanowelder. My beautiful brainchild was just not having a good day today. If today was still the same day we first got hit by the nasty multi-colored monsters.

"Rommie?" I asked, checking her vital systems with one hand while still trying to find my nanowelder with the other. "Rom-doll? You still there? Don't short-circuit on me now, girl. We still need to get out of here, and you can't do that if you wind up in the scrap heap. After all, in a scrap heap, no one would worship you there like I would, and… and where the _hell_ is my nanowelder?" I ran my hands over my pockets again and started spitting out words that would have made my cousin Brenden back in Boston blush. "They took my nanowelder! That's low, even for them! I'll make them pay, the stupid ba—"

"Harper!" Trance barked, placing a hand on my shoulder. "This is not the time for that! Look, Rommie's waking up already, and Dylan's taking care of her. You don't need to over react. In fact, why don't we just sit over here and get some food in you?" She grabbed my arm, hauled me up and led me over to a corner opposite from the one Rhade had been sitting in.

Or at least it probably looked like she was leading me to you. _I_, on the other hand, had no choice in the matter. Trance may not look like much, but she can hold her own when she wants to. I think I still have the bruises on my arm from that little gesture.

I sat down, but ignored the giant cookie she was offering. "Not hungry."

I know, I was sulking. But they had taken my _nanowelder_. That's not the kind of thing you can easily get over.

Trance knelt in front of me, and shoved the cookie thing back in my hand. "You need to eat, Harper! You need to keep your strength up for this, so you can think your way out of it, and save all of us here!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Trance, but I don't see why I need to save the day here. Isn't that Dylan's job?" I mumbled. I took the cookie, but didn't even pretend like I was going to eat it.

Trance looked straight at me, and for the first time I noticed the colour of her eyes. It had never been an important point before, but now that I was looking, they kinda reminded me of…

"Because, Harper, " she said, interrupting my train of thought. " Only you can outwit you own mind."

I ask, did that make sense to you? Because to me that was as understandable as a babe who would ditch me for Dylan. No offense, Captain.

"Is there even any point in me asking what you meant by that?"

Trance squirmed. She looked like her old self. Hell, she even _acted_ like her old self, but you could tell, by some of the things she said, she was a lot older than she was before.

"I can't tell you right now," she tried to explain, with a surreptitious glance over her shoulder, where Beka and Rhade were talking, and Dylan was still checking over Rommie. "There are things you need to find out, but I can't tell you if Beka, Rhade, and most importantly, Dylan, hear. There a lot of possible futures that can result from this happening, but in the only ones I can see that have a happy ending, you are the one responsible for everything working out. And if what happens next is what I think happens next, this might be your best chance at a solid meal for the next little while. So eat, and keep your strength. Please?"

I took a bite of the cookie and I tried to digest those words. All this rode on me? Wow, no pressure, not at all. Then I realized what I was eating.

"Wow! This is great! What's in it?"

Trance smiled. "It's a bread that we have, that we give to visitors, if they ever come. It gives them strength, and endurance."

It didn't taste like bread, or a cookie. In fact, it was kinda fruity. Like a banana strawberry milkshake, but chewy. I took another bite, then broke my cookie in half and offered Trance a piece.

She shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

I blinked. "How can you not be hungry? It must have been _ages_ since we've last eaten!"

She smiled that mysterious smile of her and winked. "When was the last time you saw me eat because I was hungry?"

I opened my mouth to answer, then I really thought about it. I couldn't for the life of me remember. I've seen her drink. I know I've seen her drunk. Seriously, I love Trance to death, and she's a treasure in any casino she walks into, but that girl can hold so little liqueur that it would be sad if it wasn't hilarious. I think I've seen her eat chocolate before, or at formal dinners Rommie's whipped up for delegates, but never for her own necessity.

Mental note: when all this is done, tie Trance down and get an explanation out of her one way or another.

I decided to ignore the whole thought of that for the moment, though. "So, that guy Flux talked about, Sigma Orion, he's your…?" I made vague gesture at the far wall.

"My father?" Trance whispered. "Yes."

I wasn't really sure how far I could push until she got mad and wouldn't answer me, but the curiosity was eating me alive. I couldn't think of anything that Trance Gemini, sweetheart of the universe, could do that would get her estranged from her own father.

"I had a very bad childhood," she said quietly, as if she could read my mind. For all I know, she probably was. "Everyone here does. We all hope for a chance to get away before it's too late. I was just able to get that chance…"

"We have company," Rhade growled, cutting off whatever Trance was going to say next.

The wall disappeared again, and Flux walked in again.

"Are we all fed?" he asked brightly. I think there must be something about Trance's people – whatever race they are – and perpetual perkiness. Trance pulls it off better, though. She can manage it without having people want to throttle her.

He looked in mild surprise at the completely silent response.

"Well, I guess I can take that as a yes. I've been sent to take you to the great chamber of Sigma Orion. You should feel very privileged. Few people get to see his great chambers. Don't bother trying to break away, but you may follow me to the chamber." He gave a pointed look to the thin-lipped Rommie. "You will actually be able to leave this room this time."

We all kinda turned to Dylan, to see what he would do. After all, being a captain wasn't all perks.

He shrugged, then made to follow Flux out of the room. "When in Rome…"

And so we followed, Rommie right after him, then Beka, Rhade and Trance. I made sure to stay right behind Trance. We were heading into the lion's den, and from what I could tell, Trance was going as the medium-rare steak.

The trip didn't take much more than a minute or two, but the entire time it took nearly all my will power not to just stand there like gaping eight year old in a toy store. The place was massive, ceilings at least thirty feet high. Gold gilt walls glittered under the clear light streaming down from high, star shaped windows. What wasn't covered in gold was made of a marble-like substance, with carvings and a writing I've never seen before etched right in the stone. Lamps shaped to resemble curving trees were spaced out every few feet. And this was just a hallway.

See, I grew up a scavenger. I was taught to take what looked valuable, convince some poor sucker it _was_ valuable, and rip him off for the highest price possible for it. And if I hadn't joined Dylan's crack job vision of bringing together the entire galaxy in a brand new Commonwealth, and kinda sorta changed my ways, the first and only thought on my mind would have been how could I carve out a two foot chunk of this wall: and where could I sell it to make enough credits to retire early in a paradise full of babes, pools, and chilled wine, with a noticeable lack of people trying to kill me.

As it was, I was considering it as a back up plan.

At the end of the hall were these massive doors, also covered in gold and carvings. I figured this was my destination, but that wasn't what had caught my attention.

On either side of the doors were two massive murals. On the left, a naked purple goddess in a richly decorated room was being worshipped by hundreds of devoted people singing hymns. I nearly had a heart attack. It was _exactly_ the same image that was burned into my mind when the dying chin head downloaded his library into my head. I could probably sing the hymn right now, word for word, whatever language it was.

The other mural showed what looked to be a bronze avenging angel, surrounded by a light, carrying a sun over her head. Beneath her were swarming Magog, trying to block the light that she put off. In both murals, the hair, the face, the clothes (in the second one anyway) were very, _very_ familiar. There was no mistaking who they were depicting.

Since I was standing right behind her, I could easily see the tremors running through Trance. I put my hand on her shoulder and she turned to look at me. The look in her eyes was nearly painful. I didn't really know what to say to comfort her, so I just said the first thing that came into my genius Harper mind.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I wouldn't be too happy coming home either if they had naked paintings of me all over the place!"

Trance blinked. And shook her head. Finally she gave a small laugh. "Thanks, Harper."

I was going to tell her it was no problem. After all, I'm Harper. Genius comes as easily to me as breathing. Before I had a chance to, the giant doors swung open of their own accord and we all followed Flux a few feet into the room.

Wow. And I do mean _wow_. Dylan, you were there. You saw it. It's beyond the need for words. It was gigantic. It was gorgeous. It would have put several Vedran princesses into debt for the next five million years.

The room was full of people, in every single colour I've ever seen. There were a few colours I didn't even know existed, too. They were dressed in these fancy costumes, standing or sitting gracefully, with barely concealed curiosity at the newcomers. Personally, I think there were at least seven rainbow-coloured babes already giving me the eye.

There were a bunch of purple people too, running around like over-grown kids, tails flying. Yup, no doubt about it, these were Trance's people.


	6. Chapter 6

Flux led us into the middle of the room, where all the Rainbow People closed in on us like Nightsiders at a free banquet. They kept their distance, but it was still creepy! Flux cleared his throat and in what he apparently thought was his best herald voice, said, "And now presenting the human guests of the great Sigma Orion! They have traveled from across the galaxy to be our guests, and we welcome them with open arms!"

Amid the clapping and the cheers, I heard Beka mutter, "Yeah? So what was with the holding cells?"

Flux ignored her and went on to milk his little bit of fame for all he was worth. "I present to you the infamous Dylan Hunt, Creator of the New Commonwealth!"

There were murmurs and pointing as they all tried to catch a glimpse of the great Dylan. Hope it didn't get to your head, Captain.

"Rebecca Valentine…"

The murmurs continued, but the weren't as loud this time.

"Andromeda Ascendant…"

There was a few dismissive snorts, which bugged both me _and_ Rommie. Sor-RY you stupid clown-faced smurfs. If you hadn't have stuck that paint can down your pants this morning, you'd be able to appreciate _real_ beauty!

"Temelachus Rhade…"

The murmurs gave way to blank-faced stares. Guess our Nietzschean buddy wasn't so famous in this corner of the galaxy.

Flux looked at Trance. "The Lost Daughter of Sigma Orion, who now goes by the name of –"

"TRANCE!" The excited squeal cut through the crowd and I looked over Rhade's shoulder to see a purple form shoving it's way through the crowd.

" 'Scuse me, sorry! I need to get through here. Oops! Didn't mean to do that! That's _Trance_, you see!"

The girl managed to bully her way through the masses and launched herself at Trance, who was smiling for the first time since we had gotten here.

"Cygnus," She greeted the bubbly purple pixie. "I didn't think I would see you again this soon!"

"Neither did I!" Cygnus held Trance out at arms length for a look over then yanked her back into a bone-crushing hug. "I've missed you so much! I'm nearly all grown now! Quinn says I'm almost old enough to change, and --- TRANCE!" She spun Trance around to stare at her backside then spun her back to face her, wide-eyed in shock. "Trance! Your tail! It's gone! What happened? It was such a nice, pretty tail! Weren't you sad when you lost it?"

Trance gave a slightly embarrassed smile. "Well, I lost it when I was trying to save someone, but I've gotten used to it being gone. I only miss it every now and then…"

"A-_hem_." Flux cleared his throat pointedly, and I glowered at him.

"What?" I demanded. "Too impatient to wait and break up the family reunion? Or, worse, are you going to introduce the rest of the family?"

There was a murmur at my words, but Flux apparently deemed himself too far above me to answer.

"As I was saying, the Lost Daughter of Sigma Orion, now going by Trance Gemini. And lastly, Seamus Zelazny Harper."

Wow, Boss, and you thought _you_ got a reaction? The entire room erupted and the crowds pressed forward to catch a glimpse of yours truly. Normally, I'd be flattered, but I still had the Nightsider imagery in my mind, and somehow, it didn't make things any better.

Trance whirled around to face crowds and snapped out—

--well, nothing. It was nothing that I could hear, anyway, but Rhade flinched as if he were slapped, Rommie blinked in surprise, and even Beka and Dylan, with their slightly genetically enhanced hearing, winced a bit.

Startled, the Rainbow People back-stepped a good ten feet and suddenly looked very humbled. The entire crew of Andromeda turned to stare at Trance, who fidgeted and looked down.

"It was just a trick I learned," She mumbled. "I don't use it very often, since it's not very nice. But it's not very nice either to mob a guest like he's an exhibit!" There was a very pointed look to the crowd, who, down to a person, all suddenly found the patterns of the floor utterly captivating. Part of me mentally kicked myself for _ever_ thinking Trance was a harmless little purple girl. Sweet, yes. Naïve, most definitely. But harmless? Never.

"Are we done now?" Flux asked, looking up from the careful inspection of his nails. Apparently, he was none too impressed with the show of Trance's authority. "Good. _Illiathyinae haelyilae syraithynie ararieara._" (OK, I have no idea if that's how it's actually spelt, but basically it was a foreign language with lots of lilting sounds) "And now, presenting His Radiance, Sigma Orion."

Like one giant multi-coloured wave, the entire assembly dropped down to one knee, which I'll admit is some feat if you take into account the costumes some of these people were wearing. And thus the Captain of the Andromeda Ascendant and his crew were left standing all alone in the giant room as the big honkin' Kahuna walked in.

On behalf of the Academy, I'd like to say, we made a _beautiful_ sitting duck impression.

" 'His Radiance'?" I heard Beka mutter.

I'm not sure if I could describe this Sigma Orion character. Think Zeus, but gold and sparkly. Or an Emmy Award with hair. Oh, and clothes.

He was tall. As in, literally twice my height tall. He walked in from some obscure corner I bet even Rhade missed up to the raised throne at the back of the room, turned to face, crossed his arms, and eyed us like something his cat dragged in. He wasn't too happy with his cat.

"This is the fabled Dylan Hunt, and his meager crew?" He said. I recognized his voice immediately. It was the metallic, lispy thing that drove me up the wall on the Andromeda.

"Hey, now, we're not meager," I said, stepping forward, flashing my Harper Patented Smile # 29 (Let's-review-the-greatness-that-is-Harper). "In fact, I'd have to say, we had to be pretty great to get through some of the stuff we've gotten through. Not only is there Trance, who is automatically treasured as the luckiest asset any crew can have, we have a Highguard GRA 112 Warship, officially known as Shining Path to Truth and Knowledge, but I'm sure she'd let you call her Andromeda Ascendant if you asked really nicely."

I figured now would be a good time to check on how this was settling with the boss. Dylan gave an ever so slight nod, and I figured if he hadn't stopped me now, I had every right to keep going.

"And that's not all, folks! This is _the_ Temelachus Rhade, for those of you who want autographs later, the most honorable Neitzschean out there – who, for the record, can outwit _circles_ out of any of you rainbow-painted court nobles. And Beka Valentine, who, without a doubt, _is_ the greatest pilot in the universe. She can thread a needle in space blindfolded. And yes. Dylan Hunt. If there was _anyone_ out there who could rebuild the Commonwealth from the ground up and still keep his morals intact, which ain't nothing to sneeze at, this is your guy."

I spread my hands humbly. "And of course, there's the Engineer. The devastatingly good-looking lady-killer responsible for saving the day on many occasions, who, on a side note, also happens to be a freakin' genius."

There was a suitably impressed murmur from the crowd, who were all still planted on their knees. The Grand Doo-Dah himself merely raised an eyebrow. After giving a slight jerk of his head (which I guess is the Stand Down signal, 'cause all the devoted faithful began popping up from their kneeling position like a bunch of cracker jacks) he surveyed us like something a slighter nicer cat dragged in.

"Is that so." He turned to Trance and told her. "If these people are as talented as their Engineer claims to be, then I see why you would consider joining them for a brief period. But alas, Daughter, you left while we still had… unfinished matters between us. And I believe you've spent more than enough time wandering the stars. Your work is done."

"My work isn't nearly done!" Trance said, frowning and, I swear, she nearly stamped a foot. "We both know I have more to do, and that I might never finish, and that keeping me here for your own selfish reasons might mean the end of everything, including yourself! You can't do that!" She planted her hands on her hips and lifted her chin to Sigma Orion. "And they're not as great as Harper claims. They're much, _much_ better."

The golden man gave a golden, frozen smile. "Well. Then I suggest a chance for you to prove your verity, Daughter." He turned to Dylan. "I challenge you to a game. A simple game, to test whether or not you can live up to your claims. Your physical bodies will not be hurt, and if you win, the prizes will be very generous."

Trance looked ready to protest again, but her father leveled a glare at her powerful enough to flatten cities before turning back to Dylan.

Every the negotiator, he asked. "And the stakes?"

"If you win, you and your entire crew are free to leave. Including my estranged daughter. My people and I will even help you in your quest for the Commonwealth. It will be nothing overt, but it will help. If you lose, I keep my daughter. And you, Captain Hunt, will stay also. I have always wanted to study someone of such noble intent before the intent becomes corrupted."

This time it wasn't just Trance who reacted. We all let our own feelings heard about the unfairness of these stakes. The only one who did nothing was Dylan. He simply folded his arms and asked, "Is there any negotiating these terms?"

"No."

"And if I refuse the game?"

"Then none of you will be allowed to leave. You will remain here for the speck of time that is how ever long it takes for you lives to expire."

Dylan was silent for a moment, then turned to Trance. "What are the odds of us winning this?"

"Dylan!" Beka cried out indignantly.

"It's not wise to give in so easily to such biased stakes in a game where we don't know the rules. I'd nearly deem it suicide," Rhade added.

Dylan ignored them both and focused on Trance. "Well?"

Trance frowned, and fidgeted. I think her younger body had an effect on her. She was acting like her old self more and more.

"Well, the threads of possibility are foggier now," She started, but Dylan cut her off.

"The odds?"

My little purple princess gnawed her lower lip then turned to study me very intently. I grew up on Earth under the rule of a bunch of stuck-up _ubers_, and in the fight to stay alive, clothes were not high on the priority list. But I tell ya, Boss, I have never, _ever_ felt more naked than I did when Trance Gemini was studying me like that.

Finally, quietly, "Fifty-fifty."

Dylan, remind me never to play poker with you. The odds of us getting out of here with our lives were basically a coin toss, and your mask didn't move and inch. Even _Rhade_ twitched. I could see the flick of Rommie's eyes as she calculated everything that could possibly improve or worsen our chances. Trance is great when it comes to that, but it never hurts to have back up.

Finally he turned to us. "Opinions? I think we can do this, but I won't do it if any of you disagree."

"I believe we are capable of succeeding in this challenge," Rommie noted, with a distasteful look at all the Rainbow people in the crowd who were underestimating her before.

"I'd like to think so too, but our luck's going to run out eventually, Dylan," Beka said. "Frankly, after all the work we've done, having it end by losing a game bet is somewhat stupid."

"But all life is a gamble," Rhade said, which to me seemed like a shot from left field. "It's a fact that shouldn't be ignored. As a Neitzschean, I simply have a better chance at beating the odds. Fifty-fifty is not the most suitable odds, but we've been underestimated before."

Dylan nodded. "Trance?"

"Yes," was all the said. "We need to."

"Harper?"

Instead of answering, I looked at Trance. I've never doubted her intuition before, and she did say I was the only way we could all get out of here and back on the lovely Andromeda. Somehow, I don't think turning tail and running is a great way to save the day.

"Hey, he said none of our bodies would be hurt, right?" I said, letting Harper Patented Smile # 64 (I've-got-this-in-the-bag) surface. "So it's got to be a mental challenge. And lucky for you, I'm freakin' brilliant!"

Beka threw up her hands. "Fine! I'll go! But if we lose, you are _never_ hearing the end of this!"

Dylan set his jaw and turned back to Sigma Orion. "Then on behalf of the crew of the Starship Andromeda, I accept your challenge."

"Good," was the lisping answer. "You shall be connected to the virtual reality within two of you human hours, after you have decided your positions."

"Virtual reality?" Trance yelped, looking up in shock. "How can you have virtual reality? None of us can work with technology!"

"Ah, yeah, that would be where you look on in awe of _my_ stunning genius," came a voice from roughly the same area where Sigma Orion had made his entrance. A shape soon formed in the shadows and from out of them stepped a man, ready to bask in the glory of his invention. I looked up at him –

---and saw an exact carbon copy of me.


	7. Chapter 7

"Harper!" Beka cried out, then spun to look at me, as if to make sure I hadn't added _teleporter_ to my massive lists of talents. She turned to the rest of the crew. "Am I the only one here seeing double?"

She wasn't. I could see him just fine. And no doubt about it, it was me. The hair was different, tinged in red and blue and combed so the spikes were only in the back. The clothes were odd, a sort of variation of what the other people here were wearing, and for some reason he looked just a tiny bit younger. But everything else reminded me of the hot guy I saw in the mirror this morning in the freaky, Twilight Zone kinda way. He had my beautiful eyes, my handsome smile, even that confident stance that I had perfected to an art form years ago. Basically, me. With a bad hairstyle I had dropped ages ago.

"Seamus Zelazny Harper at your service," he gave a half-bow to Beka with _my_ Harper patented smile # 14 (Hello-I'd-like-to-get-_very_-close-to-you) and gave her a once-over that made my skin crawl. "But _you_ can call me Zelazny."

Now, I'll admit that Beka's a looker. Nearly as hot as me. But she upgraded from babe to family a long time ago. She was the sister who picked on you any chance she got, and who you'd protect with you life. And thusly, me being the great guy that I am, I didn't like the new punk getting fresh, and I figured I should kindly introduce him to my fist. I didn't like him. Me. Whatever. Total seconds to skull-splitting headache: three.

"Hey, now," I stepped forward and spread my hands. "I know imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and I like to be flattered as much as the next guy, but that doesn't even slightly give you the right to try and squirm your way up close to friends I've established as mine! Trance, who's this psycho impersonating me?"

"And why would they impersonate _Harper_, of all people?" Rhade decided to throw in. Love ya too, buddy. So much so that I'm not fixing the water to your quarters for the next _year_.

"I'm not impersonating you," said Zelazny. (Zelazny? I mean, I have no qualms with my middle name, but this guy went around announcing it like it was cooler than, well, Harper) "I _am_ you. But not you. I'm from an alternate universe. One where people can clue in to things like that a lot faster than you just did."

Skull-splitting headache starting… _now_.

"Look buddy," I said, stepping up to him and folding my arms. "I've been insulted and shot down by a lot of people before. Ya can't be a kludge on Earth without growing up with it. But I'm not going to sit back and take it while some wanna-be tries to claim that he's a better me than me! And what's with the hair? I mean, what were you _thinking_?"

"I _am_ better!" Zelazny shot back. "No one, not even and alternate version of me, could make something as great as the Game." He pulled a small blue disk out of his pocket and hefted it in front of my face. "I can create worlds with this thing. In VR, I can make it so that you're so convinced you're dead, you'll hold your own funeral when you come back out. With this, I don't just play God, I _am_ God!"

I smiled Harper patented smile # 51 (Aww-that's-great.-Have-a-cookie-and-we'll-work-on-spelling-your-name.) "Whoo freakin' hoo, buddy, you made a video game. You make an escape 'cause you're so afraid to face the real world and all of a sudden you think you're the greatest thing since sliced bread. Well, I got someone to introduce you to." I looked behind me and held out my arm for Rommie to step forward. "_This_ is Andromeda. She's a diplomat. She's a warship. She's a babe. It's an all-in-one package. Oh, and she also happens to be my brainchild and can hardwire circles around that puny little game any day."

"Great," I heard Beka mutter. "The only thing worse than Harper with an ego is _two_ Harpers with an ego."

"End this now." Sigma Orion demanded in his big lispy in-charge voice. "Flux, lead them to the Gardens to discuss their positions. They have one human hour."

Flux nodded and beckoned for us to follow as he went out the giant doors of the giant room. Dylan, Beka and Rhade left with him, but me and _Zelazny_ were in the middle of a staring contest and there was no way I was backing down first.

I felt Trance put a hand on my arm. "Come on, Harper, we need to go," She said softly.

"Heya Trance, long time no see!" Zelazny said cheerfully. "I see you're back to your purple state. I've always been fond of it, but let me tell ya, I saw how you looked before your change and you grew up _very_ nicely." He gave her a lewd wink before turning to Rommie. "And _you_," He gave her a once-over nearly identical to the one he had given Beka. "You may be just an android, but hey, my counterpart made you well. I'd examine your circuits any day."

Rommie gave a tight smile. "Well, isn't that nice. I may be _just_ an android, but I know I'd like to electrocute _your_ circuits any day." She turned on her heel and followed Dylan out the door.

"Give up on her now," I said to my double. "If I can't score with her, fat chance you will."

"Harper, come on," Trance insisted, pulling on my arm. "Just ignore him. We need to catch up with Dylan and Beka."

I shrugged and without another word turned my back to Zelazny and walked with Trance out the door, ignoring the staring Rainbow People.


	8. Chapter 8

"This way," she said, turning a sharp left. "I know a shortcut."

I followed her, having no problem trusting her, but just to make sure, I asked, "Know the place well?"

Trance gave a quick smile over her shoulder at me. "You could say that."

I nodded, having no problem with her answer. "So what's this whole Game thing? Are we going to have a Pong showdown to the last man standing?" I paused. "Or whatever you call the male half of your population."

Trance slowed, and frowned slightly. "I…don't know. Before, when we had the Game, the players were moved to a game field where nothing could interfere. But if it's now in virtual reality…" she shook her head. "It becomes a lot easier for someone to change the rules, and that's not very fair at all."

"Let me guess," I said, "The candidates most likely to change the rules would be your father and the punk ripped-off version of me?"

"Harper," Trance said, "Zelazny isn't a copy of you. He _is_ you. From another… reality. Another possibility of what could happen. I think he's you from before you joined Beka on the Maru."

Still walking beside her, I frowned. "So if he's from another universe, what's he doing here in mine?"

"He's not," Trance said simply, without a pause.

I stopped dead in my tracks. "What? Trance, what are you –"

"We're here," Trance announced, grabbing my hand and going around a corner.

We stepped through a giant marble opening, and I had to stop to stare in awe. No wonder Trance loved being in the 'ponics garden so much. Maybe she was always in there trying to get it to look like this place. We were on the edge of a massive garden, that stretched out further than I could see the end of, so green my eyes hurt. The grass-type stuff felt springy under my feet, as if I wouldn't crush it by walking on it, it'd just pop back up right after me. There were flowers everywhere, bright and colorful and full of life. Off to the side you could hear the distant roar of an enormous waterfall, hundreds of feet tall, flowing into the sparkling river right by our feet. Giant trees rocketed up to the sky, some hanging with fruit and others there simply to provide shade. But it was the sky that got me. It was gorgeous, a pale purple with random green and blue streaks. It wasn't artificial, and that could only mean one thing.

"We're _outside_?" I demanded. "I thought we were on a ship!"

Trance gave me a quick look, but said nothing and just pulled on my arm, leading me down the river bank to where Dylan and the others were sitting, Flux standing stiffly behind them. Rommie was sitting there with her legs crossed, her eyes traveling everywhere as she studied the surroundings. Beka was sprawled out, propped up on her elbows, and grinned as came closer.

"Hey, Trance," she said. "This place isn't half bad. I wouldn't mind staying here for a while longer if it's like this everywhere."

"Where ever 'here' is," Rhade muttered darkly. I guess he had caught the implication of the fact that we were now groundbound on a planet, far, far away from Andromeda.

"Well, we'll all be staying here a lot longer than I think anyone would like if we lose this game," Dylan said, getting right down to business. "We need to figure out the game plan."

"Not lose?" Beka suggested.

Trance flashed Beka a quick smile as she knelt down beside Rhade. "A lot of this game is strategy," she said. "Who can cope with and improve on each of the different positions and limitations the best." She paused, then turned to frown at Flux. "At least, that was how the game was before."

Flux shrugged, and flicked a spec of dust off his shoulder. "The rules of the game do not change."

I guess Rhade remembered as well as I did Trance's outrage at the mention of the game being in virtual reality, because he added with a form of scorn only a Neitzschean can perfect. "You keep the rules the same to respect what you call tradition and change the entire way the game is played to respect convenience?"

Flux glanced over in Rhade's direction, saying nothing

Dylan cleared his throat. "Well, then, let's hear what these positions are, and decide who should be what."

"About time," Flux muttered, and tossed a little clinking bag of something in the middle of our little pow wow circle. It really bugged me that I had no idea – and I still don't – where he kept that freaking stupid hidden pocket. I tried asking Trance about it later, but, well, you know how she answers questions.

Rhade had picked up the tiny bag and carefully dumped out its contents, six little disc things in all sorts of different colours. "What are these?"

"They're to distinguish what position you play in the game." Trance said, leaning forward and sorting through them with a finger. "They attach to the inside of your wrist, and light up when you have active status."

" 'Active status'?" Beka asked. "I thought the whole point of this game was to not be inactive."

"Each position is only allowed a certain number of moves before they become non-active," Flux said to her, enunciating slowly and carefully. "You can only get points while you're active, and you need points to win. Can you understand that?"

The thing is with Beka, she's not an idiot. She couldn't have been to have survived in the big bad universe this long. Thusly, treating her like she is one is not the brightest thing to ever do. It makes her grouchy, and when Beka's cranky, _something_ always ends up in itty bitty pieces. Namely, who/whatever it was that raised her ire. It's not a pretty thing to see, and naturally any kindhearted and sympathetic guy would warn Flux of his upcoming dismemberment.

Me, I just sat back and prepared to enjoy the show.

Dylan gave a small cough, tapping Beka on the shoulder at the same time. "I think we should move on, and choose positions." He turned to look at Trance, who was still sorting through the discs.

"Aha! Here it is!" She pulled up a dull blue one. "Here Dylan, you need to use this one."

"I don't get a choice?" he asked, taking the disc and looking at it.

"It's the leader position. You can get the most points during play."

"So what's the catch?" I asked. If the rest of these reject smurf people were anything like Flux, there _would_ be a catch. I wouldn't trust these guys as far as I could throw them.

Actually, check that. I wouldn't trust these guys as far as I could _shoot_ them.

"Er, well, it also marks you as the target for the other team to focus their attacks on," Trance said, with an apologetic grimace. "Sorry."

Dylan sighed. "Well, it's not like I haven't been someone's target before." He tried carefully holding the disc above his wrist, but it jumped out of his fingers and attached to his forearms just below his palms with a slight _shluck_ing sound. We all watched, silent, as the little disc-thing gave two little beeps and started glowing blue.

Dylan shook his head. "That was…odd." He looked up and cleared his throat. "So. Who's next?"

Trance reached over and picked up the dull red one. "Vanguard. Whoever has this position _has_ to lead in all attacks and defenses. They can't get as many points as Dylan can, but they'd be active for the whole game."

"Rhade," Dylan said without hesitation, taking the disc and tossing it to the Neitzschean. Rhade accepted it with a nod, holding it to his wrist until it beeped, _shluck_ed, and glowed.

"Hey, are there any positions for those of us who are smart enough to _not_ want anyone shooting at us?" I wasn't really liking how the parameters for all these positions were being laid down. There was a lot of talk about "Target" and "attack", and I think I was the only one who remembered that we were still weaponless after our "unhostile" takeover.

Trance gave a small smile and picked up the grey disc. "Logistics. Whoever has this will get another disc with all the rules and the points system in it. They'd have to be able to calculate the current score and how much each move would add or cost in points fast enough that it won't get in the way of play."

Dylan gave a shrug in my direction. "Sorry, Harper, I know you wanted a safer position, but this looks like one for Rommie."

"That's fine," I said absent-mindedly. I didn't really notice what he was saying, because I was trying to study the expression on our little Purple Pixie's face. Basically, any interpretation of it was not good. "Trance? What's the 'but'?"

"But…" Trance bit her bottom lip, "Whoever does logistics has no active status. At all."

"I'm sorry, Trance," I said, holding up both hands and trying to ignore the little siren that went off in my head, blaring 'PANIC! PANIC! PANIC _NOW_!' "I'm sure I'm mistaken here. Are you saying that if Rommie does logistics then she won't have active status? As in she won't be able to make any moves? As in she won't be able to come and save our sorry little behinds when G.I. Joe and Captain Sitting Duck here are three seconds shy of getting us smushed into teeny tiny and conveniently portable little bits? Are you _kidding_ me!"

"Well…" Trance said, fidgeting, "no."

"Sorry to interject here," Beka said, "But I'm going to agree with Harper. We need every advantage we can get, and purposely putting Rommie in a position where all she is a spectator doesn't really seem like much of an advantage."

The AI in question was frowning. " I don't like the idea of standing on the sidelines either. I'm a warship. I don't _do_ passivity: I protect my crew."

"If you would like," Rhade added, "I would do Logistics for you, and Rommie could be Vanguard. My mathematic skills are quite refined, and she does have a partial advantage in combat situations."

Trance suddenly sat up just a little bit straighter and she got tiny little worry lines right around her mouth. I knew that look, and I knew exactly where it was going, and I was not happy with it.

Dylan caught it loud and clear, too. "Rommie needs to do Logistics, doesn't she?" he sighed. "I'm sorry, Rommie, Rhade. We can't risk having someone else doing it slower and not even calculating it right. We'll just have to take care of ourselves. Besides, if Rommie says it's too much of a risk, we won't do a move."

"Fine, Boss, feel free to kill us all! You may think you're some immortal hero, but I've gotten kind fond of this whole living thing!" I let myself fall back on the annoyingly springy grass and glared at the annoyingly real sky and unleashed my Harper Patented Grimace #1 (Dylan's-gone-nuts-and-he's-taking-us-all-down-with-him). It didn't use to be that commonly used, it was just one I made up as a joke for Beka when we first joined his freakishly noble and honorable cause. But over the years, it's slowly and steadily worked its way all the way up to the front of the roster. If it weren't for the fact that in only comes out when we were facing certain doom, I'd have been kinda proud of that little grimace.


	9. Chapter 9

By the time I sat back up again, Rommie had already attached the little grey – and noticeably unlit – disc, and Beka was in a full-fledged argument with Trance.

"I am _not_ going to be a pawn!"

"Beka, please! You need to!" Trance pleaded, holding out the little yellow disk. "The position needs to go to someone who can handle the on/off drawbacks of being a pawn. It has the most limitations, but if you play it wisely, you can be the most valuable player in the game!"

"So why not give it Harper?" Beka demanded. "He's bright enough to use the position to his advantages."

I blinked and shook my head and grinned at Beka. "Hey, Boss, that almost sounds like a compliment!" I unleashed my Harper Patented Smile # 8 (Hah!-I-knew-you-couldn't-resist-the-charms-of-Harper!) "Admit it: you can't get enough of me!"

Beka rolled her eyes. "Don't get too far up on that high horse. Little people have farther to fall. I was just saying that because I don't want the position. Besides, you were the one vouching for the cushy, target-free job."

"No," Trance said quietly, and Beka and I both looked at her.

"Uh oh," Beka said. "I'm sensing another opportunity for us to exercise our freedom of choice flying out the airlock."

"Beka, you need to be the pawn because Harper needs to be _this_," She tossed one of the last two discs – the blue one – to me. "He needs to play the position of _Ithaliyn_."

Ok, _that_ is actually spelt right. I got Trance to check it for me. She asked me not to ever say it out loud again, though. Something to do with my pronunciation sounding like something a Nightsider regurgitated.

"Uh, Trance?" I waved my hand around to try and get her attention. "How can I play a position when I can't even pronounce it? And by the way you say that I _need_ to do it doesn't really imply that me doing it will keep me safe. More like I might as well just sit myself down in front of their nice, pretty, whatever-it-is-they-use-for-weapons and do the countdown myself!"

"What _is_ that position, anyway?" Rhade asked. "And more importantly, why, exactly, does Harper need to play it?"

" _Ithaliyn_ is the Wild Card," Trance said. "The rules are a bit more…flexible for them than the rest of the players. They can barely get any points for the overall game… but they're less affected by outside play. The level of risk runs about the same as it would for a pawn, but the impact from the moves can be greater. Harper's counterpart is going to take that position on the other side, and he needs to take it for…" she trailed off and bit her lip.

"For…?" Dylan prompted.

"Uhm… for balance?" Trance suggested with a small smile.

"Why?" Rommie shook her head. "From what I could tell, they don't appear to be similar in anything other than appearance."

"Thank you, Rommie," I nodded at her in acknowledgement. "Good to know someone can appreciate my more matured personality."

Beka made an odd choking noise, then quickly started coughing. I refused to acknowledge any of it.

Dylan nodded at me. "All right, Harper, take it. Trance wouldn't ask you to if she didn't know you at least had a chance of handling it. Besides, you've overcome bad odds before – I have every confidence you will again."

I blinked at the comment, then allowed a small Harper Patented Smile # 86 (Wow-that-was-actually-really-nice-of-you) to emerge. It wasn't one that emerged very often, and for once I couldn't actually think of anything to say with it.

"Fine, then," Beka said. "But if I'm a pawn I refuse to be thrown out early in the game just so you guys could pick up a couple of points!" She attached the yellow disc to herself with a look to Dylan that spoke volumes.

"We would never do that to you Beka!" Trance said in a tone of voice and a tilt of the head that was so undeniably…. Trance. Or at least the old Trance. Shaking my head, I picked up the little green disc and held it just above my wrist. It beeped, it shlucked, it became one with me. What surprised me was that once it did… there was a tiny electrical discharge, then tiny little vibrations on my wrist, like a warm little tingle. Amazingly enough, it was a _very_ familiar feeling.

"This is a data-link!" I exclaimed. "Like the kind I put in my data port – " I touched the port in my neck "—but porous!"

"He's right," Rommie agreed. "It's been sending me the data with the rules since I've attached it to myself."

"So how come I haven't noticed it?" Rhade asked and Dylan and Beka nodded in agreement.

Trance was giving me a quizzical look. "Because organics aren't supposed to." She then nodded sharply, as if she made a good decision, then smiled slightly.

" Are we done here?" Flux asked. "Can I finally pass along the results of your decision making, or would you like another week or so?" He turned to leave.

"You're not going to tell us who's playing against us?" Beka demanded, outraged.

Flux paused and did an almost-squirm that immediately made me think of Trance. "You wouldn't know who they are anyway."

"I would," Trance said, quietly, but with finality.

Flux sighed. "_Fine_," he whined. "Zelazny is _Ithaliyan_, obviously."

"Who's the leader?" Dylan asked, and Flux paused.

"It's Zelazny, isn't it?" Trance asked. And the filthy (more-words-that-I-shouldn't-put-in-this-log) that was Flux remained silent.

"Hey now!" Beka interrupted. "I may not have played this game before, but I'm pretty sure you can't have one player do two parts. That's cheating and we all know it."

"It is _not_," Flux whined. "Since Zelazny has offered to take up the _difficult_ task of two roles, we were given special grant to have three pawns in play."

" _Three_ pawns?" I said. "Yeah, 'cuz that has 'fair play' written all over it, doesn't it? Give one person the two most powerful roles, and get two extra pawns to 'compensate,' right?" I stood up and pointed a finger right in his blue face. "Well then, you just tell _Zelazny_ that I know exactly how he ticks. And that no matter how many extra people he pulls into this, he's playing against the crew of the _Andromeda Ascendant_, and he better really watch out."

Flux rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, I'll pass along your threats of machismo to your counterpart. Are we done?"

"Name them, Flux," Trance said, her purple face giving a cold stare that I've only ever seen in her bronze form. "Name who we are playing against."

"Ah, if you insist," Flux sighed. "Zelazny is _Ithaliyn_, and the leader, I will be doing Logistics –" he pointed to the grey disc on his wrist. "— and Rigel Cepheus is Vanguard. Pawns will be played by Lyra Aphelion, Altair Procyon, and… Quinn Capella." There was a slight flicker in his eyes and he looked at Trance uncertainly as he said the last name, but I wasn't sure why.

Trance just frowned very softly. Beka looked over at her. "Know 'em?"

"Yes," Trance said. "And some of them aren't very nice at all."

Flux rolled his eyes. "I will pass that onto Quinn for you."

Trance stood and placed her hands on her hips. "Then also tell him that I'll be the Guide for our side."

Flux's eyes widened. "Really? And under what special circumstances do you have the right to claim _that_ position?"

"The circumstances caused when you stopped bothering to play by the rules," Rhade growled, as he stood too.

Flux folded his arms and frowned. "I'll pass that on, but obviously you'll have to clear _that_ with your father."

"I _will_," Trance replied.

Rommie was already standing, eying her counterpart in the game, and Dylan stood up beside her.

"You see, Mr. Flux, there is a reason we are going to win, and it's one I would stake my life on. You'll be competing on a team, playing for some grand and wonderful prize at the end. But this is my _crew_, and together we have overcome things you may have never dreamed of. We aren't competing for a prize at the end, we are all in this for each other. And even with all your technicalities and smudged rules and double standards, we will still win. We know it, you know it, and your good friend Sigma Orion himself knows it. So let's see what you've got."

Flux frowned, but remained silent. He nodded his head back in the direction of the big crazy castle-of-ridiculous-mortgage, and turned to start walking back towards it silently.

Dylan turned to the rest of us with the smile he always has on right before he does something heroic. "Now, let's have us a game, shall we?"


End file.
